Highly Commended
Target the impact of depression in the workplace
Summary of work
For the first time, a group of 13 multinational companies, collectively employing more than one million people, have joined together forming ‘Target Depression’ to tackle the leading cause of disability worldwide.
Affecting decision-making, memory and concentration; depression impacts employee productivity to the tune of £77billion annually. Consequently, employers have a responsibility and a financial interest to effectively protect employees at risk. However, 1/3 of managers report receiving no training or support.
H. Lundbeck A/S specialises in brain diseases with a mission “to improve the quality-of-life of people suffering from psychiatric and neurological disorders.” To fulfil this, Lundbeck supported the creation of ‘Target Depression’. In just 18 months, ‘Target’ launched a white-paper outlining key challenges in the workplace, a Business Charter encouraging the development of company policies to tackle depression and hosted an event featuring some of Europe’s most prolific business names. In 2015, companies will test interventions to better manage workplace depression. Over 100 employers have been engaged and 2,000 million reached via media outreach. Still ongoing, ‘Target’ is taking action to preserve the well-being of individuals, as well as delivering benefits to business in a time when the economy places ever more demands on its primary commodity – its people.
Judges’ comments
The ambition and scale of this initiative is hard to ignore. A creative and strong idea that was executed brilliantly and raised the value of the pharma industry cross-sectorally. An amazing, quality campaign involving numerous partners that has impact and longevity.
